TV Rants & Ramblings: Arrow 1.12 – “Vertigo”

Following Thea’s problems with drug use at the end of last week’s episode of Arrow, Oliver finds himself dealing with the effects of Vertigo himself when he comes face to face with The Count.

Back On The Island

Yay! I knew I would doubt my doubts of Oliver’s Best Island Buddy once more following last week’s mischievous attempt to make me untrusting of this man. The plan was definitely a confusing one as it was carried out from week to week, especially since we weren’t filled in on what BIB was doing, but it turns out he had good intentions all along by throwing Oliver to the wolves because now they think he was dead. Pushing Oliver into the island’s Fight Club wasn’t that nice either, especially considering it ended in a choke out, but it’s a small price to pay for freedom from pursuit on the island until he is ready to come back and punch all the bad guys in their stupid, bad guy faces.

Now that Oliver has escaped from the storyline on the island that has moved throughout the previous episodes, it should be interesting to see where these flashbacks go from here. Something tells me it will be a very long and broken up training montage, but first he has to get as far from the compound as possible. Let’s just hope he knows a little more about topography than I do if he is going to read the map BIB left him without a compass. Fingers crossed he was a boy scout!

The Count

Based on this week’s Google searching, I’m guessing that the villain from “Vertigo” is based on the DC character Count Vertigo. Naming him The Count and having him deal a drug named Vertigo were both pretty glaring pieces of evidence that I didn’t have to work hard to put two and two together. With that said, instead of having some guy with an inner ear problem who then learned to manipulate others to have trouble with perception and balance, we’ve got something a little more based in reality. Other than his Joker voice – I don’t know anyone who actually talks like that.

Even if we had to deal with Thea being stupid to introduce this drug dealer, so far The Count is one of my favorite villains appearing on Arrow because there is more to him than just his voice that reminds me of the Joker (you have to admit the self-euthanasia opportunity he gave the traitorous drug dealer was creative), and I am excited at the possibility of him being a recurring villain sometime down the road, crazier than ever. Not only that, but I appreciate the Count Dracula similarity brought up by his name (though I do feel a strong desire to play with numbers as well) and the little tidbit about how the victims of his drug trials would wash up at the feet of the police with puncture wounds in their necks. Plus I just miss getting to watch Seth Gabel on Fringe.

Testing The Goods

Using his Russian mob / Bratva connections and his passed down skills (after all, all apprentices learn special skills from their masters: The Bride got the Five Pont Palm Exploding Heart Technique” and Po got The Wuxi Finger Hold), Oliver gets a meeting set up with The Count. The plan is to follow him back to his base of operations after the drug deal so that the Russian mob ties aren’t lost, but things go awry when the cops show up. Darn you Mckenna Hall! Not really because I also really like Janina Gavankar and hope this wasn’t a onetime appearance for her on Arrow, but at least give a guy some warning first when you are going to inevitably lead to the events that bring a needle full of a very powerful drug to his chest! Granted without this miss-step we wouldn’t have needed Felicity in this episode, and an episode without Felicity is an episode without happiness.

I actually wish they had done more with Oliver on drugs because I thought it was going to be more of a hallucinogenic based on the trailer (along the lines of Scarecrow), but I guess there really is only so much blurred, unbalanced camera work you can do. And like I mentioned above, I’m sure The Count will be back.

Quote of the Episode

Let’s face it, at this point pretty much everything Felicity Smoak says is gold, with this week’s episode having a few more gems to add to the list, starting with this:

“You look like something the cat dragged in. Not that there are cats in this building. Well, once a cat did get in but the guard tazed it. Smelled like fur and static in here for like a week.”

Final Thoughts

So what did you think of tonight’s episode of Arrow? Are you a fan of The Count and the possibility of him reappearing later to seek vengeance on Arrow? Are you annoyed with Thea as much as I am? I’m just glad she turned down the brat dial after learning what her father was really like because maybe she will be a little more normal for a few episodes. That and we have a new reason to force Oliver and Laurel together again seeing as he is her chauffer to work as Laurel’s assistant, though I wouldn’t mind a relationship between Oliver and Mckenna Hall or Felicity Smoak in the meantime. Did you think Arrow looked naked going out to fight crime without his bow? How long till Oliver finds out the whole truth about his mom and the secrets she’s currently hiding now that Felicity has planted some seeds with that journal? Let me know your thoughts on these and all things Arrow in the comments below!